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Business Rule #25:
Use Perceived Weakness to
Your Advantage
April 16, 2005
(PAGE 2 of 2)
My inspection of the vehicle was cut short when the hood wouldn’t open. I drafted an amendment to the sales contract, putting in a clause that would allow me to rescind the agreement for any reason after seeing under the hood.
The Manager took one look at my amendment and choked. “What are you, an attorney?”
“Yes.”
“You are?” he gasped. “But you said you worked for a bank!”
“I do. I’m an attorney for a bank.” If he’d known I was a professional negotiator, the Manger would have had his guard up. As it was, he initialed my changes to the contract and honored the 30% discount to which he agreed before he knew he was dealing with counsel.
The Net Worth team knew exactly what each team member had to do. Sadly, each of the Net Worth boys fell down on their designated jobs. Alex was in charge of the interior shots of the car, but he got only one picture of the inside and failed to photograph the cool-looking logo on the dashboard.
Bren wrote the brochure copy. Now as an attorney and a writer, I understand that being able to write well in one style doesn’t necessarily mean you can write well in another. The precise technical writing required for legal briefs rarely quickens the pulse. Sure, good legal writing is persuasive—but it can also be dry as dust. The fact that Bren knew how to put a sentence together didn’t mean he knew how to stir a prospective car buyer's passion for driving.
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Poor Chris had to make the presentation of the Net Worth brochure. He was painfully uncomfortable speaking in front of the group. Worse yet, Chris committed the cardinal sin of mispronouncing the product name. Instead of “Solstice,” he called this gorgeous sexy roaster a “Solster.” It was an honest mistake—but it made Chris look like he hadn’t done his homework.
In the boardroom, Donald Trump called Alex on his laissez-faire attitude toward the ultimate success of his team’s project. True, Alex was eager to speak up about Bren’s inadequate writing—but not when it mattered. While Bren was still at the keyboard, in a position to make revisions, Alex kept his opinion to himself.
In the end, Chris had showed his face in the boardroom just one too many times. Since he was the PM this time out, he was finally held responsible.
White men may well have an advantage in the workplace, but presuming your gender or ethnicity will overcome shoddy work is so last century. Nothing ensures failure like overconfidence in your performance. Kendra is fast becoming a genuine force to reckon with, because she didn’t assume whatever she did would be great. She won because she wouldn’t accept second best.
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Nothing ensures failure like overconfidence in your performance.
